[Pliny the Elder] used to say that “no book was so bad but some good might be got out of it.” Pliny the Younger

This blog is an adjunct to The Roman History Reading Group which meets on the first and third Wednesday of each month except August in our chat room from 9:30 to 11:00 p.m. US EDT (UTC/GMT -04). This means that in Asia and Australia/Pacific, it's daytime. Here is a world time clock as a general assistance for non-USAns.

March 09, 2018

I hate and I love. Why do I do it, perchance you might ask? I don't know, but I feel it happening to me and I'm burning up.

"Analysis of the structure

"Forget, for a moment, about translating it. The structure of the poem is almost as important as the words themselves. Noting how and where certain words are used lets you see what the poet was emphasizing. In a language where poetry doesn't rhyme and where word order is more flexible than English, these are some of the elements that separate mundane writing from the inspirational."

That led me to Higgins' own book on Roman Britain, which, upon inquiry in our Facebook group, was highly praised. With a little monetary windfall that I have reserved for buying books, I downloaded Under Another Sky: Journeys in Roman Britain.

The two books take a very different approach. Riley sets up an imaginary travelogue in the year 130 CE for the then newly appointed governor. Higgins takes a look at the entire Roman Britain – albeit with selected sites – and explores the sites, the related history and archaeology, and frequently delves into literary connections, ancient and modern. Did you know that Wilfred Owen, a "Shropshire Lad," was an enthusiastic boyhood archaeologist and might have well chosen this as a profession, had he survives the Great War?

I am halfway into Higgins' entertaining book and highly recommend it as a companion to our reading selection!

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Newcomers to the chats are always welcome! The Roman History Reading Group meets on the first and third Wednesday of each month except August at Skype IM (no video) from 9:30 to 11:00 p.m. U.S. EDT (UTC/GMT -04). This means that in Asia and Australia/Pacific it's daytime. Here is a world time clock to help you.

Newcomers are always welcome! The Roman History Reading Group meets on the first and third Wednesday of each month except August at Skype IM (no video) from 9:30 to 11:00 p.m. U.S. EDT (UTC/GMT -04). This means that in Asia and Australia/Pacific it's daytime. Here is a world time clock to help you.

May 3: through Chapter VI, Westwards to SilchesterMay 17: through the end

Newcomers are always welcome! The Roman History Reading Group meets on the first and third Wednesday of each month except August at Skype IM (no video) from 9:30 to 11:00 p.m. U.S. EDT (UTC/GMT -04). This means that in Asia and Australia/Pacific it's daytime. Here is a world time clock to help you.

Julius Caesar was stabbed to death in the Roman Senate on March 15, 44 BC—the Ides of March according to the Roman calendar. He was, says author Barry Strauss, the last casualty of one civil war and the first casualty of the next civil war, which would end the Roman Republic and inaugurate the Roman Empire. “The Death of Caesar provides a fresh look at a well-trodden event, with superb storytelling sure to inspire awe” (The Philadelphia Inquirer).

Why was Caesar killed? For political reasons, mainly. The conspirators wanted to return Rome to the days when the Senate ruled, but Caesar hoped to pass along his new powers to his family, especially Octavian. The principal plotters were Brutus, Cassius (both former allies of Pompey), and Decimus. The last was a leading general and close friend of Caesar’s who felt betrayed by the great man: He was the mole in Caesar’s camp. But after the assassination everything went wrong. The killers left the body in the Senate and Caesar’s allies held a public funeral. Mark Antony made a brilliant speech—not “Friends, Romans, Countrymen” as Shakespeare had it, but something inflammatory that caused a riot. The conspirators fled Rome. Brutus and Cassius raised an army in Greece but Antony and Octavian defeated them.

Pompeii was a lively resort flourishing in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius at the height of the Roman Empire. When Vesuvius erupted in an explosion of flame and ash, the entire town would be destroyed. Some of its citizens died in the chaos, some escaped the mountain's wrath . . . and these are their stories: A boy loses his innocence in Pompeii's flourishing streets. An heiress dreads her wedding day, not knowing it will be swallowed by fire. An ex-legionary stakes his entire future on a gladiator bout destined never to be finished. A crippled senator welcomes death, until a tomboy on horseback comes to his rescue. A young mother faces an impossible choice for her unborn child as the ash falls. A priestess and a whore seek redemption and resurrection as the town is buried.

Six authors bring to life overlapping stories of patricians and slaves, warriors and politicians, villains and heroes who cross each others' path during Pompeii's fiery end. But who will escape, and who will be buried for eternity?

January 15, 2016

Our first chat in the New Year is an oldie but goodie: First Man in Rome by Colleen McCullough.

January 6 & 20, February 3

This novel, the first in the "Masters of Rome" series, has sparked the interest in Roman history for many readers. For myself, this is one of several go-arounds since I started these online chats in 1995.

From the book description:

With extraordinary narrative power, New York Times bestselling author Colleen McCullough sweeps the reader into a whirlpool of pageantry and passion, bringing to vivid life the most glorious epoch in human history.

When the world cowered before the legions of Rome, two extraordinary men dreamed of personal glory: the military genius and wealthy rural "upstart" Marius, and Sulla, penniless and debauched but of aristocratic birth. Men of exceptional vision, courage, cunning, and ruthless ambition, separately they faced the insurmountable opposition of powerful, vindictive foes. Yet allied they could answer the treachery of rivals, lovers, enemy generals, and senatorial vipers with intricate and merciless machinations of their own—to achieve in the end a bloody and splendid foretold destiny . . . and win the most coveted honor the Republic could bestow.

January 6: through page 275 (Chapter "The Third Year")

January 20: through page 544 (First half of Chapter "The Seventh Year / The Eighth Year / The Tenth Year)

In the city of Massilia (modern-day Marseille), on the coast of Southern Gaul, Gordianus the Finder's beloved son Meto has disappeared--branded as a traitor to Caesar and apparently dead. Consumed with grief, Gordianus arrives in the city in the midst of a raging civil war, hoping to discover what happened to his son. But when he witnesses the fall of a young woman from a precipice called Sacrifice Rock, he becomes entangled in discovering the truth--did she fall or was she pushed? And where, in all of this, could it be connected to his missing son? Drawn into the city's treacherous depths, where nothing and no one are what they seem, Gordianus must summon all of his skills to discover his son's fate--and to safeguard his own life.

Note:

Steven Saylor does not do author chats, but he has told me he'd be happy to answer any questions by e-mail. You can find his address on the above author website.

May 01, 2015

“The reader is asked to bear in mind, [that] the story is told, not from the modern point of view, but as from the broken heart and with the lips of an Egyptian patriot of royal blood; no mere beast-worshipper, but a priest instructed in the inmost mysteries, who believed firmly in the personal existence of the gods of Khem, in the possibility of communion with them, and in the certainty of immortal life with its rewards and punishments; to whom also the bewildering and often gross symbolism of the Osirian Faith was nothing but a veil woven to obscure secrets of the Sanctuary. Whatever proportion of truth there may have been in their spiritual claims and imaginings, if indeed there was any, such men as the Prince Harmachis have been told of in the annals of every great religion, and, as is shown by the testimony of monumental and sacred inscriptions, they were not unknown among the worshippers of the Egyptian Gods, and more especially of Isis.”

...

“To such students as seek a story only, and are not interested in the faith, ceremonies, or customs of the Mother of Religion and Civilisation, ancient Egypt, it is, however, respectfully suggested that they should exercise the art of skipping, and open this tale at its Second Book.” (emphasis mine)

Excerpts From: H. Rider Haggard. “Cleopatra.” iBooks. This material may be protected by copyright.Note: no longer under copyright